EU’s Highest Court Asked to Rule on Global Anti-Piracy Treaty

May 11 (Bloomberg) -- The European Union’s top court was
asked to rule on the legality of a global anti-piracy treaty,
delaying the region’s approval for the accord aimed at
preventing counterfeiting worldwide.

The European Commission, the 27-nation bloc’s executive
arm, asked the European Court of Justice to check if the
agreement, known as ACTA, is compatible with EU treaties and
the region’s Charter of Fundamental Rights, John Clancy, an EU
spokesman, said in en e-mailed statement from Brussels today.

“The Court’s opinion is vital to respond to the wide-ranging concerns voiced by people across Europe on whether ACTA
harms our fundamental rights in any way,” Clancy said.

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement is intended to set
global rules for cracking down on the pirating of copyrighted
materials, including illegal file sharing on the internet.
Protestors in Germany and other European countries have
complained that the treaty may harm freedom of expression and
information sharing online.

In addition to the EU, signatory countries include the
U.S., Japan and South Korea. The accord needs to be ratified by
all 27 EU governments before it can come into effect.

Germany’s government was at odds with national lawmakers
over the ACTA agreement, the Passauer Neue Presse newspaper
reported in February. Bulgaria refused to ratify ACTA in
February pending a clear EU positon on the accord. Finland also
postponed its final approval on the treaty until the EU had
ruled, the government said in March.